Items tagged with Cellphone

Nokia finalized a sale of its mobile phone business to Microsoft last year for $7.2 billion, and though it was reported that Microsoft negotiated the rights to use the Nokia brand on mobile products for the next decade, by November of 2014, Microsoft released its first Lumia handset without the Nokia label. Less than five months later, there's talk that Nokia wants back in the game.According to Recode and the "two sources briefed on Nokia's plans," the Finnish company is planning to once again compete in the mobile space as early as next year. The comeback would be under the operation of Nokia...Read more...

Your fancy pants smartphone might be able to play games like Angry Birds and stream movies from Netflix, but in Japan, it's just another overpriced device with a shrinking audience. Taking their place are those clamshell phones that your pop still uses. It seems crazy, but flip-phone shipments in Japan went up in 2014 for the first time in seven years.Citing data from MM Research Institute Ltd, Reuters says that smartphone shipments fell a full 5.3 percent to 27.7 million units, down for a second year in a row. Meanwhile, flip-phone shipments rose by almost the same percentage -- 5.7 percent to...Read more...

Phew, we can all breathe a sigh a relief that the scooping up of our sensitive mobile phone data -- things like text messages, call records, browsing history, pictures, contact, and more -- is completely legal, or so the government says. Doesn't that make you make feel much better about the U.S. Marshal Service's use of spy planes to harvest cellphone information on a mass scale? No? Well perhaps you'll rest easier at night knowing that the Department of Justice insists that the Marshal Service doesn't maintain a database of cellphone data belonging to everyday, law abiding citizens as part of...Read more...

The Department of Justice's U.S. Marshals Service division has reportedly been employing fake cellphone towers on planes in an effort to stay one step ahead of criminals such as drug dealers and terrorist organizations operating in the United States. Unfortunately for law abiding citizens and privacy advocates at large, the fake cell signals don't just zero in on the criminal that's being sought by law enforcement officials, at least not at first, and instead gathers data from up to tens of thousands of people during each flight. These spy planes are equipped with so-called "dirtboxes," which are...Read more...

Security breaches that expose sensitive customer data are becoming uncomfortably common these days. The newest firm to fess up to falling prey to a hacker attack is AT&T, which has begun sending letters out to customers letting them know about a breach that occurred between April 9 and April 21 of this year. According to a report in Dallas News, the attack resulted in an undisclosed number of wireless customers having their personal data exposed, including Social Security numbers and dates of birth -- handy information if you're trying to steal and/or sell someone's identity. Image Source:...Read more...

Making calls while overseas isn't exactly a piece of cake... well, if you care about the cash you're earning, that is. Roaming rates can vary from "wild" to "downright crazy," but Roamer's app-based call forwarding service aims to take some of the edge off. Roamer is a new iOS and Android app designed to bring to end to steep call roaming charges globally. Available to download for free from the App Store and Google Play, Roamer is an app that saves users up to 90% on their call roaming bills abroad. The app uses local cellular networks that mean calls are high quality as Roamer enables users to...Read more...

Batteries--specifically, their lack of longevity and long recharge cycles--have been one of the most annoying bottlenecks to mobile innovation, but a California teenager has developed a technology that could significantly relieve some of that burden. 18-year-old Eesha Kare developed a supercapacitor that could fit inside a battery and charge cell phones in 20 to 30 seconds instead of hours. Further, it offers 10,000 charge/recharge cycles, which is a far cry from the 1,000 or so cycles that many rechargeable batteries have. Eesha Kare (Image credit: Intel Corp) Kare’s supercapacitor...Read more...

Last year, Republic Wireless made headlines with its $19/month unlimited everything smartphone plan. At the time, the service was available in a limited Beta service. As a result, many people who were interested in the service couldn't sign up for it. Now, Republic Wireless is opening the Beta service up to everyone. As you'll recall, Republic Wireless is a Wi-Fi-centric mobile operator. In other words, the carrier uses Wi-Fi as its primary network with cellular as a backup. Currently, Republic Wireless offers just a single phone: the Motorola DEFY XT. This appears to be a pretty decent mid-range...Read more...

If you'll be traveling overseas soon, it's probably about time to start planning just how exactly you plan to stay connected. It's not as easy as just turning your smartphone on and roaming internationally. Well, it is, but you'll pay through the nose to do it. For those who plan ahead, AT&T is offering new talk + text plans for overseas yappers. The new discount roaming packages for calling and messaging, as well as new Wi-Fi capabilities on select AT&T Data Global Add-On packages, offer much better rates than you'd get if you didn't sign up for a plan ahead of time. Joining the AT&T...Read more...

Google's always had a fetish for free or low-cost Internet access, and continuing that philosophy is a new service the sultan of search is experimenting with. It's called "Free Zone" and it's intended to offer users in emerging markets access to several online Google products, including Google Search, on their feature phones. "Free Zone is a bundle offered by mobile operators in association with Google that allows you to use Google+, Gmail, and Google Search for free. It's available for most Internet-enabled mobile phones," Google explains. "When you use these Google products through Free Zone...Read more...

My, how the tables have turned. It seems like ages ago when AT&T and T-Mobile were set to merge, and then, that fell all to pieces. But it seems as if T-Mobile just can't solder on as a solo outfit. This week, MetroPCS -- one of the larger prepaid carriers in America -- confirmed that they are in talks with T-Mobile's parent company (Deutsche Telekom). Why talk? Because there may be some sort of T-Mobile + MetroPCS tie-up in the near future. MetroPCS has been quick to point out that nothing has been nailed down just yet, but simply confirming the talks means that things are pretty well along....Read more...

There's a new network in town. That is, if your town is London. With LTE taking over major cities around the world, England's largest locale in terms of population is about to hop on the same bandwagon. Everything Everywhere is a new company, a new network, and a new brand, and it's bringing a new face to 4G in London. Coined "EE," the company has a big challenge ahead of it, but given that it switched on live today, it shouldn't take long to see how many Londoners will flock over for access to faster mobile data. The company promises that it's LTE will spread to 16 cities by the year's end, covering...Read more...

Looking for disruption in the wireless market? Look no further. Republic Wireless, which bills itself as the nation's first Wi-Fi-centric mobile operator, just reopened its $19/month unlimited Beta to new customers, offering an all-new handset, the Motorola DEFY XT. That's right: cellular service for $19/month. The DEFY XT is a pretty solid mid-range Android option for the service, offering up a 3.7" panel, 1GHz processor, 5MP rear camera and one key factor: Republic's Hybrid Calling tech to leverage Wi-Fi as the primary network, and uses the cellular network as a backup only when needed. It'll...Read more...

It's no secret that HTC has had a rough time competing with other big name smartphone manufacturers in the last couple of years. It looked like the company might be turning things around with its One series and the EVO 4G LTE for Sprint, but then the company got hit with another delay thanks to a U.S. Customs review. The EVO 4G LTE is finally here though, and Sprint customers can finally pick up this new, highly anticipated smartphone. The HTC EVO 4G LTE sports many of the high-end features you'd want in a smartphone today including Android 4.0, a 4.7-inch HD display, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor,...Read more...